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You must be a masochist then . A glare or a punch in the arm I'll accept, a full out gut punch... nope only in the anime medium does that kind beating the male characters exists let alone a kick in the balls. It just isn't funny anymore.

I remember kicking my second cousin in the shin for smoking, resulting in a broken leg.....

What made that scene weird for me is that after puncing Taichi (I swear I heard something break), Inaba then decides to tell everyone what happened anyways. I guess she wanted to be the one to say it, but it just makes the punch so meaningless.

I think that Taichi might be getting weary of playing counselor to his friends, and maybe feels like it's time for him to start caring about his own needs and wants for a change.

Damn! School Days am confirmed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I'm not forcing anything. I believe Heartseed alone is almost single handledly ruining this series for me. It is from Heartseed himself that everything else is being affected.

You must be a masochist then . A glare or a punch in the arm I'll accept, a full out gut punch... nope only in the anime medium does that kind beating the male characters exists let alone a kick in the balls. It just isn't funny anymore.

To be honest, I don't think issues I have with the story would be gone if Heartseed was gone. Taichi would still be the White Knight. Aoki would still be irrelevant. At least Heartseed brings some comedy with his stone face and cruel ways. I still think he's doing it to better everyone, in a cruel to be kind way. A bit over-the-top, but meh. It would be crazy though if Yui blows up and attempts to rape Aoki

As for Taichi getting hit, I dunno, seems like you're putting too much into those scenes. Especially when he kicked his own balls and the fact that Yui's problem was a physical one. Seems like it's just simple mechanics to show personalities.

Although why Taichi is called 'selfless freak' is beyond me. He's not doing anything especially awesome. More like being a normal friend. The others seem to be more dumb-clueless as how to help others. Nothing was stopping Aoki from helping Yui, or Inaba to help Iori in the first arc. They were just clueless it seems.

Although why Taichi is called 'selfless freak' is beyond me. He's not doing anything especially awesome. More like being a normal friend. The others seem to be more dumb-clueless as how to help others. Nothing was stopping Aoki from helping Yui, or Inaba to help Iori in the first arc. They were just clueless it seems.

That does seem like the case these days. MC does something that common sense or anyone would do and they're this awesome person for doing it.

So please Kokoro Connect, fix this s***. I appreciate the way Kokoro Connect is trying to be ambitious compared to the average slice of life and the way you are taking the hard route of not making a joke out of the body swapping (or in the case of this episode, body hijacking) premise, the execution of it leaves it requiring significant levels of improvement.

Pocari, aren’t you asking too much from this series (for now)? As for me, I don’t watch every new episode of Kokoro Connect hoping to be deeply impressed or blown away. I’m here just for the playful atmosphere and some drama that resulted from the “magical” events. I’m hooked by the first episode and so far I enjoy this series a lot. If so far you feel that there’s a “s**tty” element in this series that may as well has become its nature, then you must accept that maybe this is not the show for you, or maybe it’s plainly not up to your “high standard”.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

You must be a masochist then . A glare or a punch in the arm I'll accept, a full out gut punch... nope only in the anime medium does that kind beating the male characters exists let alone a kick in the balls. It just isn't funny anymore.

Well, if you able to accept big-eyed characters in anime, you might as well learn to accept that “habit” of many anime series in which male characters tend to “happily” received physical offense from girls. Especially if the said girls are their buddies. It might as well come from Japanese tradition (which anime is come from) like slapstick humor or the Japanese belief that said all men is physically stronger than women, thus can endure heavier “punishment” at certain degrees and still being a gentleman to the girls (Japanese way of "gentlemen" of course).

Note: It’s Taichi himself that decide to kick his own balls to help his friend in need .

Although why Taichi is called 'selfless freak' is beyond me. He's not doing anything especially awesome. More like being a normal friend. The others seem to be more dumb-clueless as how to help others. Nothing was stopping Aoki from helping Yui, or Inaba to help Iori in the first arc. They were just clueless it seems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jmac

That does seem like the case these days. MC does something that common sense or anyone would do and they're this awesome person for doing it.

It's not about Taichi helping his friends, it's about Taichi willing to sacrifice himself every time in order to help others that is the issue.

And I hate it when people try to compare Kokoro Connect to that particular wreck of a story. I mean come on, it's not like we have some idiot swinging his gun out at every occasion or there are several girls who are heartbroken over having been used. This is a growth story, not some comedy.

No-one compared it, we just said we were reminded of it due to the whole "girl in love with the guy tries to hook up the guy with another girl" business. It's an unfair comparison because that setup is pretty common, but still.

IMHO Heartseed is both a blessing and a curse on the main characters. Something akin to a chaotic neutral demi-god as it were. As he stated at the end of the first arc -- we aren't aware of the full extent of his powers, but if we take him at his word ... he doesn't want to kill them, or overtly damage their belongings (he set the phone aside remember).

He sees them as a group of emotionally ... I don't want to say damaged ... but extremely "human" people. And through the events he puts in motion, he's not only able to appease his boredom, but even admits that the outcome isn't entirely bad for them either, as they are learning more about themselves and working out their problems. (And he could be lying about being bored even)

So while it's easy to consider Heartseed a right bastard -- I can't help but wonder if this is his plan all along -- to place them into situations that force them to understand and overcome their personal problems.

I guess we'll see by the third arc if the story is progressing the way I imagine it. IE: Arc1 identifies the problems, Arc2 will have a cathartic affect on Inaba and therapeutic on Iori, Arc3 will be cathartic or therapeutic for other chars, etc.

PS: I do think they need to actually do something with Aoki though. He seems to be the "A Channel Nagi" or "True Tears Aiko" character -- one they put in the show, but ends up never really utilized much.

It's not about Taichi helping his friends, it's about Taichi willing to sacrifice himself every time in order to help others that is the issue.

Then perhaps his sacrifices aren't big enough for me. Plus it's a label that those around him use, thus they're assuming he's 'sacrificing himself'. They can't really know his intentions. You could easily say he's an 'attention whore' who wants to be constantly recognized. What he's done so far has been rather simplistic is all really. The most annoying example of this was when Aoki talked to Taichi about his 'selflessness'. My mind kept saying 'Like dude, you can do that too...'.

Like someone else said, Inaba pushing Iori and Taichi together is more sacrificial than anything Taichi has done (if that is what she is doing).

I know unfortunately. He's starting to remind me of another similar character who will remain nameless *cough*Shirou*cough*

Not just Shirou, but white knight male leads that go solving the problems of his harem of girls .

But really that's not really a "cliche" that I particularly mind if it's executed well. What I do hate is the constant use of physical abuse that male characters get from its female counterparts whilst some male characters are just "there" for comedic purposes. It's almost reverse sexism because if you switched the genders around there will be an outcry . Alas, I will stop here because I don't want to get into a debate of double standards etc. etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Well, if you able to accept big-eyed characters in anime, you might as well learn to accept that “habit” of many anime series in which male characters tend to “happily” received physical offense from girls. Especially if the said girls are their buddies. It might as well come from Japanese tradition (which anime is come from) like slapstick humor or the Japanese belief that said all men is physically stronger than women, thus can endure heavier “punishment” at certain degrees and still being a gentleman to the girls (Japanese way of "gentlemen" of course).

Going to be difficult and one that I'm most likely not going to be able to accept. Light force for teasing and embarrassment purposes sure... but to a gut punch like that no way. That's the kinda thing you do male friends when you're actually in a physical fight with them. It's all about the severity. Being of Asian origin, I'm well aware of the notion that males are suppose to cop a bit from females but not to that extent. Why use verbal attacks or facial expressions for starters (which Kokoro Connect has been doing as well, which I have no problems with)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediNight

PS: I do think they need to actually do something with Aoki though. He seems to be the "A Channel Nagi" or "True Tears Aiko" character -- one they put in the show, but ends up never really utilized much.

Another thing I thought about -- Heartseed didn't technically hurt Iori in Arc1 either -- since he took control before throwing her off the bridge, and she didn't wake up in her body until after the doctors had looked at her. And we don't even know what the doctors were even doing ... ie: if it even involved surgery or not.

So from her POV she didn't feel any pain, and it's presumed that she made a full recovery with no ill effects.

So while it's easy to consider Heartseed a right bastard -- I can't help but wonder if this is his plan all along -- to place them into situations that force them to understand and overcome their personal problems.

That's one heck of a way to problem solving lol!

Spoiler for episode 6 thoughts:

But I do like how Iori said that she pretty much welcomed the new gimmick. Seeing the positives that it brings may in fact help her find her true self among all the faces she had to put on during her life. I think the one it's gonna hurt the most is Inaba, because she hasn't totally gotten over her trust issues and losing all control of your body prolly scares her the most. Maybe she doesn't want everyone to see her desires and fear that they may break down the friendships she has.

Another thing I thought about -- Heartseed didn't technically hurt Iori in Arc1 either -- since he took control before throwing her off the bridge, and she didn't wake up in her body until after the doctors had looked at her. And we don't even know what the doctors were even doing ... ie: if it even involved surgery or not.

So from her POV she didn't feel any pain, and it's presumed that she made a full recovery with no ill effects.

Now that I think about it, what kind of physical injuries did Iori sustain?

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